Magic

What is magic?

Magic is a fundamental part of the universe and also of the human experince. Every human being has the innate ability to use magic as well as supernatural gifts corresponding to the type or types of magic they can use. Magic comes from within, and learning it is as much a matter of personal and spiritual development as it is one of skill. An enlightened magic user (that is, someone who has mastered the virtues that power their types of magic) is capable of astounding supernatural feats.

Virtue and sin

Though many scholars recognize that psychology plays a role in magical ability, virtue and sin are generally understood to be the driving forces behind it. Each type of magic is linked to a virtue and sin; virtue makes magic more powerful, while sin can cause it to backfire or even become corrupt.
How virtue and sin affect magic depends on two factors: habit and intent. Habit determines one's "baseline" ability and can cause corrruption in the case of sin. However, intent can greatly magnify or undermine the strength of a spell or ability or even cause it to backfire.

Backfire and corrruption

Magic can backfire when used with sinful intent. What counts as sinful intent depends on the type of magic used. For example, illusion magic will backfire when used to deceive others (deceit), but many illusionists perform for money (avarice) or fame (pride). As long as the user is honest about the use of illusions, there is no risk of backfire.
Corruption is the result of habitual sin. This leads to all sorts of ill effects, even when one is not actively using magic. For example, a corrupted illusionist will gradually lose their ability to distinguish illusions from reality as they fall further into corruption. Corruption generally causes any magic used to backfire, though strong enough pure intent can overcome this. Still, there will usually be a cost to the user, even if a spell succeeds; this cost can only be overcome by overcoming the corruption itself.
With enough self-control, magic can be weaponized by deliberately causing it to backfire. While this has some unique and powerful uses, it can be costly or even dangerous to the user.

Types of magic

There are nine types of magic. Every person has the inborn ability to use one type of magic and the potential to learn certain others.
1. Divine magic users have an incredible ability of discernment. Most are followers of a deity and can channel their deity's powers in a limited form, though some draw their powers from other belief systems or philosophies. Their key virtue is patience, and wrath their sin; mastering divine magic requires fully surrendering to the will of a higher power. 2. Life magic is the manipulation of life energy; it mainly involves healing and/or fertility magic (that is, making crops grow, not just making babies). Humility is its principal virtue, and many skilled healers work for little or no reward. Pride, being opposite to humility, is what corrupts life magic. 3. Illusion magic may seem ideal for deceiving others, except deceit is its corrupting sin, and honesty its virtue. Therefore, it mainly has value as a performing art. Also, enlightened illusionists are very difficult to deceive, as they can see through both magical and mundane illusions. 4. Transformation magic users are creative people attuned to the physical world. They are mostly artists or artisans, using their magic to create masterpieces. When enlightened, their creative intuition is unparalleled. The cardinal virtue of transformation magic is serenity, while its sin is envy. 5. Divination magic is used to gain information. Its users use divination tools, such as tarot cards or crystal balls, but these items are not uniquely magical but serve to focus their magic. Some invent their own tools. Divination magic is powered by non-attachment and corrupted by avarice. 6. Spirit magic involves communicating with, summoning, banishing, and sometimes even channeling spirits. People who use spirit magic have a natural sensitivity to spirits, which increases with their faith. Fear (or, perhaps more accurately, cowardice) is the sin which corrupts this magic. 7. Projection magic mainly entails projecting one's consciousness (i.e. remote viewing) or spirit (astral projection). Some users have additional abilities such as entering dreams or bringing others with them, and enlightened ones can physically teleport. Projection magic's core virtue is temperance, in contrast with its core sin of indulgence. 8. (NOTE TO SELF: Add PROTECTION and PSYCHIC (psionic?) MAGIC)

Interconnectedness

All types of magic are connected. Each domain shares particular abilities with two others (such as purification, which falls under divine and life magic magic users are inclined toward one of these abilities or the other. Special abilities lie along the lines of crisis and transcendence.
Crisis occurs when one's corruption and sin become so severe they "spill into" another domain. For example, when a user of transformation magic becomes so consumed with envy it gives way to habitual pride (believing they are entitled to what the people they envy have), their magic turns inward and contaminates their life energy, transforming their own body without their control. Crisis abilities (such as shapeshifting) are initially uncontrollable but can be tamed once sin and corruption are overcome.
Transcendence is the inverse of crisis: enlightenment transcending one's magical domain. For example, an enlightened healer who has also embraced serenity (the virtue which powers transformation magic) will become particularly attuned to the physical and also gain the ability to shapeshift. Transcendent and tamed crisis abilities are the same, with the difference that a crisis ability can be re-corrupted by sin, while a transcendent ability will simply be lost if virtue is lost.